this summer’s 2000 AD Sci-Fi Special, which — for the first time in the anthology’s 41-year history — will feature an all-female creative lineup when it’s released in June, from writers and artists to colorists and letterers, working on some of the title’s biggest characters and series, including Judge Dredd, Rogue Trooper and Psi-Judge Anderson.

I’m very pleased to say that I’ll be writing one of the strips for this special edition. I’m thrilled and honoured to be among such good company, and to have the opportunity to write for such an iconic comic.

Growing up in a small town in the West of Ireland there wasn’t much in the way of comics except for 2000 AD. I read it as often I can could get it, and the characters and stories have a special place in my nerdy heart.

It’s marvellous to get the opportunity to work with the Mighty Tharg. My younger self would have been hugely impressed.

I’ll provide more specific details about the project as it progresses…

On this day – 100 years ago – the Representation of the People Act 1918 was passed, giving the parliamentary vote to women aged at least 30 who had property or a university education (and to all men over the age of 21).

Irish Women over the age of 21 obtained the vote when the Constitution of the Irish Free State Act came into effect in 1922.

The Irish Government is celebrating this event with the #Vótáil100 Programme, which is a series of events taking place around the country discussing women’s suffrage.

As always, I feel hugely indebted to my ancestors who fought so hard and endured great hardship to gain the vote for women. I enjoy many freedoms because they fought for it. But this victory was the middle of a long series of hard battles, which continue to this day.

My thanks to those who have fought, and continue to fight, for the equal rights of all people.

The inaugural episode of the Hammered podcast is now available for listening. The host of the series JG Byrne and I talk about The Quatermass Xperiment (1955). It was a fun and nerdy deep dive into the film. Perfect for fans of Hammer films, science fiction, and Nigel Kneale (though of course he didn’t write the movie, but it’s based on his original BBC TV series. I give a lot of love to Kneale in this episode.)

You can listen to it here:

There will be a different guest with John in the next episode, and I should be returning for more Hammer exegesis with The Mummy (1959).

Make sure to subscribe to the series or like the Facebook page, which will give updates when each episode is online.

I’ll be taking part in an on-going podcast called Hammered, dedicated to examining the more ghoulish output of the British Hammer Film Productions studio.

Starting with The Quatermass Xperiment (1955) and ending (maybe) with To the Devil a Daughter (1976), the discussions will be hosted by J G Byrne and aided by a rotating guest list. Each episode will work through one film from the studio’s horror releases.

The original music for the podcast is created by David Blake.

The first batch of films I’ll be chatting about with John are: The Quatermass Xperiment (1955), The Mummy (1959), The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll (1960), The Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb (1964), and The Gorgon (1964).

Here’s the cover for Best New Horror #28, edited by Stephen Jones. My short story ‘The Light at the Centre’ is in it – the story was originally published in Uncertainties Vol. 1, edited by Brian J. Showers, and published by Swan River Press.

Here’s the table of contents:

Acknowledgements

Introduction: Horror in 2016 – The Editor

Pale Tree House – Angela Slatter

The Light at the Centre – Maura McHugh

En Plein Air – J.T. Glover

India Blue – Glen Hirshberg

Walking with the Cross – Peter Bell

Bedtime Story – Richard Christian Matheson

The Symphony of the Normal – Darren Speegle

The Ballet of Dr. Caligari – Reggie Oliver

Who is This Who is Coming? – Lynda E. Rucker

The House That Moved Next Door – Stephen Volk

Princess – Dennis Etchison

A Home in the Sky – Lisa Tuttle

On These Blackened Shores of Time – Brian Hodge

The Enemy Within – Steve Rasnic Tem

The Court of Midnight – Mark Samuels

Far from Any Shore – Caitlín R. Kiernan

The Fig Garden – Mark Valentine

White Feathers – Alison Littlewood

Over to You – Michael Marshall Smith

In the Dark, Quiet Places – Kristi DeMeester

Mare’s Nest – Richard Gavin

The Red Forest – Angela Slatter

Necrology: 2016 – Stephen Jones & Kim Newman

Useful Addresses

The book will be published by PS Publishing. The cover artwork is by Lee Elias, and was originally used in Tomb of Terror #15 (1954).

It’s a fantastic privilege to be counted among so many talented writers. My heart is full.

It’ll be a two-hour whistlestop overview of the basics of storytelling, with tips and suggestions on how to tailor your story idea for different media: prose, Film/TV/Internet, theatre, games, comics, and radio/podcast.

All for €12.50!

The Junior Film Fleadh is the young people’s arm of the prestigious Galway Film Fleadh, and offers four days of fun and useful events aimed at budding filmmakers and young film fans.

Thanks to Clare Mclaughlin for chatting to me for a segment on The Kitchen Table show on 103.2 Dublin City FM, which is airing tonight from 9 pm -10 pm.

We talk about a couple of TV shows I’m watching currently – such as Supergirl and the recent Netflix show Mindhunter – and we also discuss the panel I’ll be contributing to on Saturday as part of the Bram Stoker Festival, Dublin: Slayers and their Vampires.

Today the Kickstarter for the Jennifer Wilde Point & Click Game (based on the comic book series I wrote for Atomic Diner) ended and it was successful! Thanks to everyone who has supported this endeavour by Outsider Games, and a big congratulations to Stephen Downey who worked so hard to achieve it.

The project passed the funding goal three days before the deadline, much to the relief of everyone involved.

There’s much excitement about the publication tomorrow of the next novel in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials saga – titled The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage.

This evening I appeared on RTÉ Radio 1 arts show, Arena, and discussed Pullman’s work for those unfamiliar with the stories, and those who are keen to get the first big instalment in Lyra’s adventures for seventeen years.

You can listen back to my discussion with Arena host Sean Rocks online.

After all the prep I did for the show my memories of enjoying the first series were revistalised, and now I’m eagerly anticipating returning to Pullman’s marvellous universes.